


The Origin is You

by ISingTheSkyElectric



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, M/M, Post-S6, Season 6 Spoilers, i love these two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-23 21:54:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14942043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ISingTheSkyElectric/pseuds/ISingTheSkyElectric
Summary: Shiro opens his eyes, wet with something soft and wondrous. Keith feels his heart respond, swelling and melting at the same time.This is love, he thinks.“You saved me,” Shiro says, voice warm.Keith lets out a soft chuckle. “As many times as it takes. I’ll always come back to you, no matter what.”Shiro’s hand squeezes tight around his. He smiles, happiness making it wobbly on the edges.“I love you too,” Shiro says softly.Keith heart stops then starts, twice as fast in his chest.-------Post S6, contains spoilers





	The Origin is You

**Author's Note:**

> S6 killed me them resurrected me
> 
> Title from Mika's "Origin of Love"

The shaking hits him unexpectedly.

It starts somewhere in his gut, tremors that make him think he’s going to vomit. He clenches his teeth, tightening his hand around the Black Lion’s controls. He feels both exhausted and full of adrenaline and it’s tearing his body in two.

His vision blurs, galaxies turning into hazy spots on a pitch black sky. Some beast is clawing at his throat, razor sharp burns that force him to swallow. It’s hard to breathe with the burning magma that have replaced his lungs.

_He got Shiro back. He’s alive. They’re both alive._

“Keith?” he hears and the noise breaks him.

A sob tears itself free and he’s crying, tears pouring down his face as his body shakes.

_“I died, Keith.”_

Hands cover his and slowly uncurls them from the Black Lion’s controls. His lungs scream, head spinning from the lack of a full breath and the emotions blazing through him. He bows foward, gasping through the wet and the burning. Hands pull him forward into a warm body. Arms encircle his head, trapping him in the warm closeness of another person. His hands slide across hard armor, fingers digging into the flexible underarmour.

“It’ll be okay, Keith,” his mother says, gripping him tighter.

He gasps against her stomach, squeezing his eyes shut as tears stream down.

_“You found me.”_

Keith shakes and sobs until his body is wrung out and dry, exhaustion spilling through his limbs and dragging his body down. It suddenly hits him that the last time he slept was as they traveled to the Castle.

The Castle that no longer exists.

The pain is dull compared to what everyone else must feel, softened by years away, but he once called it home. That meant something.

He feels Krolia take a deep breath against his head. “You need to rest.”

“So do you,” he replies, voice rough from the emotional wildfire that’s still smoldering. He pulls back.

She levels him in a stare that tells him exactly what she thinks of his response. Their two years traveling through the quantum abyss had brought them close together. The space-time pulses combined with living with only one other person had removed all the barriers that life apart had built. He knows Krolia’s life, and she knows his.

_He grew up so much_ , Keith realizes suddenly. Building a close bond with his long-lost mother had allowed him to finally let go of the emotional baggage he’d been carrying for so long.

“The Lion will pilot itself,” Krolia says, pulling him into a standing position. His body protests the motion, eyes heavy from the shed tears and exhaustion.

“I need to check on Shiro,” Keith says. Make sure he’s still okay, goes unspoken.

Krolia nods, eyes soft and a small smile tugging at her mouth.

“I’m glad you got him back.”

“Me too,” he replies, relief spilling through him.

He remembers the countless times he told her about Shiro, and the weight that dropped off him when he confided about his love to her. He’d been carrying the weight of that love for years alone, and sharing it had given him satisfaction he never knew to be possible.

Keith turns and leaves the cockpit, dragging his fingers along the pilot’s seat as he goes. The Black Lion rumbles in his mind, her warm comfort curling around him. He smiles and wraps it around him as he travels to the storage room in her chest. The door slides open and he has to take a second to breathe at the sight.

Shiro’s asleep, lying down in the open cryopod with a blanket settled over him. Orion perks his head up when Keith steps through the door. He space-jumps to Keith’s side, tail wagging in greeting. Keith runs a hand over his head, scratching behind his ears before moving to Shiro’s side.

His white hair is still a shock. Allura assumed that it was a result of his soul being trapped in the astral plane, but had no real answers. Bringing someone back from the dead had never been done before.

_“I died, Keith.”_

He presses a finger to Shiro’s neck, feeling the pulse beneath his skin. His heart is pumping, lungs are moving.

He’s alive.

Keith lets out a shuddering breath he didn’t know he was holding and withdraws. They both need to sleep, to recover from what they’ve been through. He turns, ready to find a spot to sleep among the crates of things they had rescued from the Castle.

“Keith?” His heart leaps as he spins back. Shiro’s staring up at him, striking amber eyes worried.

_Another color change,_ Keith thinks, heart clenching tight in his chest as he moves to Shiro’s side.

“Hey, it’s okay. You can go back to sleep,” Keith murmurs, giving Shiro as soft smile.

He stares back, pain etched across his face. “He hurt you,” he whispers.

Keith pauses for a second, then remembers, hand coming up to the new scar on his face.

“Hey, no. It’s not your fault. It doesn’t even hurt.” That’s true; a quick swipe of a cream from Coran had solved that problem. Only a slight tugging of his skin when he moves his mouth reminds him it’s there.

“I could’ve tried hard to warn you,” Shiro says, pain making his voice shiver. His hand comes up and Keith catches it between both of his. “All that time you were piloting Black, I could’ve-”

“Hey, it’s not your fault,” Keith cuts him off. His heart clenches in his chest at the hurt Shiro must being feeling. “It was so hard to reach you just to get your help, and that was when I knew you were in there.”

“But I-”

“Shiro, don’t. It’s not your fault.” Shiro face crumples, eyes squeezing shut. Keith lets him pull him closer, and Shiro tucks Keith’s hands close to his chest. “It’s not your fault. Not your fault,” Keith repeats softly as Shiro’s breath shudders in his throat.

Shiro opens his eyes, wet with something soft and wondrous. Keith feels his heart respond, swelling and melting at the same time.

_This is love,_ he thinks.

“You saved me,” Shiro says, voice warm.

Keith lets out a soft chuckle. “As many times as it takes. I’ll always come back to you, no matter what.”

Shiro’s hand squeezes tight around his. He smiles, happiness making it wobbly on the edges.

“I love you too,” Shiro says softly.

Keith heart stops then starts, twice as fast in his chest.

“I have all the clone’s memories,” Shiro says, eyes darting across Keith’s face as he stares in shock. He starts babbling, words spilling out fast. “I can remember the entire fight. What you said shocked him. I understand if you were just saying that to get him to stop, but I thought you should know. If you don’t feel the same way, I-”

Keith cuts him off with a kiss.

Shiro’s lips are dry under his, soft under the shock of the kiss. Keith stays for a second longer, allows himself to drown in Shiro’s lips on his, in Shiro’s touch, before he pulls back.

Shiro’s eyes are wide, shock starting to fade into another emotion.

“I do. I mean, I love you. I mean it,” Keith says, laying his heart bare. He’s done it before with Shiro, exposing his entire being under Shiro’s light, but every time feels new. Every time he feels like he’s burning into ashes, only to be reborn into a phoenix when Shiro stays by his side.

Shiro looks at him, eyes soft. Keith can finally name that emotion that sometimes settles in Shiro’s eyes when he looks at him.

_Love._

_I love you_.

Shiro pulls his hand from Keith’s and winds it through his hair, pulling Keith toward him. He goes willingly.

Their lips meet again and it’s breathtaking.

Keith feels like he’s been set aflame and he feels like he’s coming home. It’s comfort and passion and warmth wrapped into one.

It’s love.

Keith pulls back first, feeling his heart burst and flood his lungs with emotion. Shiro smiles at him, bright and happy and so full of love. Keith slides his hand up to Shiro’s jaw, rubbing his thumb across his cheek and against the edge of his scar.

Keith’s heart shudders. He feels like he’s about the shatter in the face of their love.

“You’ve grown so handsome,” Shiro murmurs, eyes dancing across Keith’s face. He looks like a man dying of thirst and Keith is the only water given to him.

“So did you,” Keith smiles. “White hair’s a good look. Pidge said you look like an anime character.”

He runs his fingers through the thin layer of hair above Shiro’s hair. The once-black strands are soft under his fingertips.

Shiro gives a soft laugh and Keith’s heart combusts with love. “I don’t know any anime character with white and black hair.”

Keith falters, then remembers that Shiro can’t see himself. “Shiro. You, uh, you’re hair’s fully white now. Rescuing you from the astral plane bleached it. Allura doesn’t know why.”

Shiro stares for a heartbeat, letting the information sink in. “Huh.”

“We can probably find a mirror in these crates if you want to see.” Keith pulls back, turning to look at the crates. Maybe one of them by the door…

“Hey.” Shiro tugs on Keith’s hand, pulling his attention back to him. “You said I look handsome right?”

Keith smiles. “Always.”

Shiro grins back. “Then I don’t need to see it right now. I trust you.”

The weight of Shiro’s love rushes over him again and he smiles, helpless in the face of it. “Sap.”

“Your sap,” Shiro replies.

Keith kisses him again, unable to keep away. His wildest hopes are realized and all he can do is to try to keep afloat. Shiro will keep him from drowning, even if he is the cause of the water.

Keith pulls away, feels his heart turn soft, the love pulling back to allow him to take a breather. It settles in between his ribs, wrapping around bones and muscles and nerves. It will always be there, he knows, but retreats to allow him to think.

“You need to sleep,” he tells Shiro.

“You too,” Shiro replies. “Will you? With me?” His face immediately flushes with embarrassment over his tripping tongue.

Keith chuckles. “Always.” He withdraws to start stripping off his armor.

Shiro sits up, moving slowly and carefully. His fingers stumble over the locks and clasps of the armor. Shiro fumbles with the edge of his chestplate, running his fingers along the neckline to grasp the release.

The love rises back in full force as Keith turns to help, fingers catching the button and releasing the chestplate with a hiss of air. He slowly pries it off, front falling into his hands as the rear falls back. Keith shifts the armor out of the cryopod and to the side as Shiro unbuckles his belt.

“You never told us. What’s his name?” Shiro asks as he pulls his legs out of the cryopod.

Keith glances up to see Shiro staring at Orion. Orion wags his tail from where he’s sprawled by the door, clearly understanding they were talking about him.

Keith grins. “Orion,” he answers.

Shiro gives him a lopsided smile that makes Keith’s heart clench in his chest. “Your dad’s favorite constellation.”

“And yours,” Keith adds softly.

Shiro watches him, eyes soft, as Keith slowly unwraps the armor from Shiro’s body. He goes slow, soft and careful, fully aware that Shiro’s sore and hurt. It’s a certainty that Shiro has bruises from the fight between him and the clone. Keith is covered in them, and he knows Shiro would be upset if he saw them. They paint his body in a battlefield rainbow.

Keith turns off the lights and they wedge themself into the crypod. It’s small, not meant for two people. Keith ends up pressed against Shiro, laying half on him with his face in his neck. He briefly contemplates moving them elsewhere, but the crates and the floor are the only place possible and he refuses to let Shiro sleep on the hard floor. Shiro has been through enough. He needs some comfort at least. Keith slides a hand across Shiro’s chest. He settles it on top of his heart, feeling it beat beneath his palm.

_“You found me.”_

He feels the need to cry again, even though he’s wrung out like a sponge from earlier. He knows they’ll be tears of happiness though. Keith falls asleep with Shiro’s hand carding through his hair and Shiro’s heart beating under his hand.

**Author's Note:**

> Come scream with me on tumblr!


End file.
